Hearing loops are becoming more common in public venues such as concert halls and theaters, but you can have them installed in your home as well. Hearing loops convert sound to electromagnetic energy, which is then broadcast throughout the room by a loop coil. Your hearing aid's telecoil picks up this energy, converts it back to sound and then plays it from its speakers — it's almost as if you're sitting right next to the television. If you have difficulty hearing, read on to learn three reasons to connect a hearing loop to your home's television.

1. Lets You Hear Other Room Sounds Clearly

If you need to turn your television volume as loud as it can go in order to hear it clearly, it can easily drown out other sounds in the room. Because of the way a hearing loop works, you can keep your television on a quiet audio setting and use the volume control on your hearing aid in order to adjust its volume.

This is combined with the fact that your hearing aid continues to amplify room sounds when it's in microphone and telecoil mode. You can hear the television clearer while also being able to hear sounds such as someone talking in the room or someone knocking on your door.

Additionally, this is a feature that's unique to hearing loop systems. Traditional FM broadcast systems using a receiver will also drown out room sounds — the receiver headset muffles them since it fits over your ears. If you want to hear your television clearly along with everything else, a hearing loop system is the best way to go.

2. They're an Inexpensive Way of Making Your TV Easier to Hear

Television hearing loop systems are very inexpensive to install. The main costs of a hearing loop system are the loop wire that runs underneath the floor and the loop driver that converts sound to electromagnetic energy. Large venues require a substantial amount of loop wire and a loop driver that can handle multiple sources of audio input. Installing a hearing loop in your bedroom or living room and connecting it to your television, however, requires very little equipment — this keeps overall costs low.

In addition to that, you don't need anything other than your hearing aid in order to use your hearing loop system. FM broadcasting systems are often just as expensive to install as hearing loop systems, but you'll also need to purchase receivers and batteries for them as well. Overall, it's one of the least expensive ways for you to hear your television more clearly.

3. They're Not Limited to Just Your Television

Even if a loop driver is designed for television use, it will have multiple audio input sources. This means that your home hearing loop isn't just limited to your television — you can plug a radio into the loop driver in order to hear it more clearly as well.

Overall, a hearing loop is an excellent way to improve your television-watching experience when you're hard of hearing. Sounds are clearer and you don't require any special equipment to use it other than a telecoil-capable hearing aid. Contact a hearing loop installer and have one installed in your home — they're a very inexpensive upgrade.